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Freeland Road bridge work starts June 13

Published 5:56 am, Friday, April 22, 2011

The revamping of a Freeland Road bridge, postponed last year, will move ahead beginning June 13 just after Freeland Community Schools lets out for summer break. Closing the westbound lane of the bridge on Freeland Road means delays and detours for businesses in that area, and for people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Last summer, Saginaw County Road Commission officials postponed the project due to issues in bidding. This time around, Ryan Whiteherse, director of engineering for the commission, said the project was rebid in the fall of 2010 via the Michigan Department of Transportation. Rejection of bids is the result of an unbalanced bid by the low bidder due to the misinterpreted intent of the two specific pay items listed in the design plans, according to the road commission.

Wayland-based contractor Slagter Construction, which had won the bid last year, won again this year. Construction is expected to begin June 13 with the bridge to be reopen to traffic by Aug. 6. Work underneath the bridge will continue until near Labor Day.

Whiteherse said he understands that the westbound road closure will be an inconvenience to businesses and residents, but that the bridge needs repair.

"With this work, the bridge will go another 25-plus years without having to be closed down again," he said.

The bridge, which was built in 1976, is closest to Midland Road and construction costs are estimated at $625,000, said Whiteherse. The bridge is 482 feet long and serves as one of four crossings of the river.

One lane of traffic heading eastbound (toward town) will remain open on the bridge. Detour signs are expected to lead traffic around the construction site. Whiteherse said westbound traffic will be detoured to Tittabawassee Road to River Road. Other options will be to take Gordonville Road as a detour.

"What we didn't want to do was to detour traffic into another county," Whiteherse said.

Freeland Community Schools Superintendent Matt Cairy said he is aware of the bridge repair work and detours. Construction is expected to be complete by the time school begins in the fall, but the school system has a contingency plan should any delays affect the buses that use the bridge to pick up and drop off students living west of the river.

"We would have to adjust the routes that pick-up/drop-off on the west side of the river," Cairy said. "This would be a significant problem for our tiered busing, and would likely add time and cost to several of our runs. Regardless, we will continue to transport the children of Freeland both to and from school."